Marc Mauillon, Myriam Rignol, Thibaut Roussel, Marouan Mankar-Bennis – Lambert: Leçons de Ténèbres (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

Marc Mauillon, Myriam Rignol, Thibaut Roussel, Marouan Mankar-Bennis – Lambert: Leçons de Ténèbres (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:44:29 minutes | 1,73 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi

Best known as the composer of three hundred serious airs, Michel Lambert (1610-1696) wrote two full cycles of lessons, both transcribed in an unsigned and undated collection of manuscripts. The first cycle, recorded in its entirety here for the first time, was written in a cursive script, which reproduces as faithfully as possible the vocal ornamentation with all its rhythmic subtleties, but which also retains a few uncertainties when it comes to the placement of chords for the basso continuo. It demands that the musician undertake a detailed work of reconstruction and minute adjustments, alongside an intimate understanding of the soul of this music which inhabits the border separating the sacred from the profane. Under the reign of Louis XIV, Lambert’s Leçons de Ténèbres were associated with ceremonies where the court took part in public acts of worship. Contemporary accounts tell us that they were performed by three female singers during the Tenebrae, but Marc Mauillon and his three instrumentalists (viola da gamba, theorbo and positive organ) here offer us a version of male voice, taking into account that Lambert himself must have sung them – the score, while not handwritten, is rather more an aide-mémoire than a version ready to play – and he also sang his own airs de cour. He probably also provided the musical accompaniment – probably on theorbo – alongside viola and theorbo player Nicolas Hotman, from whom our performers have chosen a few instrumental pieces, which serve as preludes, postludes, meditations or respirations between Leçons, which at the time would have formed a part of three liturgical performances in the three days before Easter. While the experience on offer here is different from that which was originally intended for these pieces, it is still certainly worth a listen, not least for the meditative state into which it will plunge the listener.

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Ensemble Près de votre oreille, Robin Pharo, Thibaut Roussel, Anaïs Bertrand & Nicolas Brooymans – Come Sorrow (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Ensemble Près de votre oreille, Robin Pharo, Thibaut Roussel, Anaïs Bertrand & Nicolas Brooymans – Come Sorrow (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:24:25 minutes | 1,51 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Paraty

Over and above the research on the role of the viola da gamba in the English vocal repertoire, the following programme also seeks to provide an experience of total immersion in the chamber music of this era, which can induce meditation and contemplation as potently as it can arouse humour and joy. Through the work of four major British composers, it presents pieces that the public has too few opportunities to hear, as well as other more famous works which are the glory of the Elizabethan repertoire. “Come Sorrow” is the melancholy title of our programme, but also and especially that of one of the most beautiful vocal pieces written by Robert Jones.

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